Is it true that the Ukrainian bill on restricting the travel of teenagers abroad was developed for their subsequent mobilization?

In mid-August 2023, a message about a new Ukrainian bill went viral, which would supposedly allow teenagers to be denied permission to travel abroad. Some media and Telegram channels believed that this was preparation for the future mobilization of minors. We checked if this is true. 

Starting August 9, 2023 posts about these upcoming changes in Ukrainian legislation appeared in Telegram channels Readovka (874,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), “Live broadcast» (810,000), "Truthfulness» (250,000), "Mardan" (116,000) and "Ukraine.ru» (92,000), as well as in the TV presenter’s channels Ruslana Ostashko (105,000), publicist Yakova Kedmi (92,000) and many others. Authors of publications on social networks and Media claim that the bill submitted to the Verkhovna Rada is preparation for the mobilization of teenagers into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In the publications of the mentioned Telegram channels, we are talking about what was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on July 11 bill No. 9480 “On amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine on the protection of children’s rights when temporarily leaving Ukraine.” Its authors actually propose to limit the travel of Ukrainian teenagers aged 16 to 18 years abroad. However, as is clear from the title, the bill does not concern legislation on military service; its purpose is to change one of the norms of the Civil Code related to the legal stay of minors abroad. 

According to the current Ukrainian legislation, a person can travel abroad unaccompanied by parents or legal representatives after reaching the age of 16. However, in most EU countries, foreigners under 18 years of age are considered unaccompanied children - similar rules apply, for example, in France, Poland, Italy And Germany. Teenagers who arrive from another state without adults may be placed under special supervision or assigned temporary guardians. In the explanatory note The authors of the bill note that since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, thousands of Ukrainian minors have found themselves outside the country, some of them unaccompanied by parents or guardians. 

The new bill proposes to give Ukrainians the right to travel abroad independently only after reaching the age of majority - and thereby harmonize the legislation with European standards. If the initiative is supported by deputies, children aged 16 to 18 years will be able to leave Ukraine only with the consent of their parents, adoptive parents, parent-educators (special status for people who have taken in at least five orphans), guardians or trustees, accompanied by themselves or another person authorized by them. The corresponding consent will need to be obtained in the form prescribed by law. The exceptions are those who married or became parents before reaching adulthood. According to Ukrainian legislators, the unification of legislation with the EU will better protect the rights of teenagers living abroad. 

In Ukraine, the proposal of deputies caused, among other things, criticism, however, not related to issues of military service. The bill does not change either the procedure for mobilization or the procedure for completing military service, and the restrictions imposed are not related to the status of a person liable for military service. In addition, the bill applies to all Ukrainian teenagers, regardless of gender, while mobilization applies to men, but not women.

Narrative This is not the first time that information about “preparing Ukrainian children for mobilization,” about a ban on crossing borders, or even about minors already fighting and dying at the front, has been spread in Russian-language media. Fact checkers from Vox Ukraine sorted it out similar messages back in February 2023. In July in a number of channels in Telegram, V blogs, on the social network X (former Twitter) and in "VKontakte“Photos of graves have appeared where teenagers who fought in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are allegedly buried. How found out our colleagues from the Reuters agency, the pictures were edited - the dead men were “rejuvenated” by changing the years of their birth on the tombstones and mourning photos, and a different face was simply inserted into one of the pictures.

Thus, the information about changes in Ukrainian legislation that will make it possible to mobilize teenagers in the near future is false. The innovations concern the Civil Code, and not the law “On Military Duty and Military Service”; the bill does not contain a word about changing the mobilization procedure. 

Cover photo: Dariusz Sankowski from the site Pixabay

Not true

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